It’s not the first time I’ve seen notes like this on cars I stop to shoot. Can you guess what they’re interested in?

Or more like why they’re interested in an old Datsun that recently had its face punched in? Parts car? Or they’ve got parts and want to buy it on the cheap?

There’s still a fair number of old Datsun pickups running around here. This is a Datsun 620, the first generation with an extended cab. For that matter, the first mini-truck with an extended cab; quite the to do when it arrived in 1977. King Cab, no less. The full story is here.

It may have been called King Cab, but compared to the Chevy Spark behind it, it hardly looks regal. Commoner Cab.

I had a note left under the wiper of my red ’64 pickup asking if I wanted to sell it. When I called the guy he offered a 2000 F-150 in trade. I told him I had no need for a new truck and that the asking price was $6000. He told me he’d have to save up and would call me once he had more money.

I sold the truck a few weeks later for $4500.

Last week the same guy left a message under the wiper of my tan ’64 telling me he had $2000 saved up and would I sell it.

Sad thing is… you can’t find refills anymore. I’d love to have some for my SS wiper arm/blade for my 77 Chevelle but I’ve had to buy the black blades and take them apart. and then bend up my SS arms to make them sort of work. One came apart the other day while I was working on the washer pump system and lightly scratched the glass.

Japanese cars and trucks of this era evoke fond memories due to the experiences previous owners had about them. These were often their first new Japanese cars and unlike their previous ownership experiences, these machines didn’t let them down. It was a relief to have taken a risk and have it succeed. A lot of people took a risk on these little affordable simple trucks, and they turned out to be affordable simple trucks that were also dependable. These trucks arrived at a particular stage of their lives and now that they have moved on – the sight of them sitting on a street, even in this condition, pulls at their memories and hearts.

The guy who left a note probably has moved on in his life and is driving a vehicle far more modern and advanced than this little tin pick up, but I bet he would like to reclaim a bit of his youth with the memories he got from previously owning a truck like this.

This, in a nutshell, is why today’s vehicles become tomorrow’s collectable curbside classics!

Somebody left a note under the wiper of one of my cars at a car show with a phone number and email. I called him just for fun. The guy wanted to buy a Chrysler the same as he had in his younger years. I said mine isn’t for sale, but I’d keep an eye out for him. I emailed him links to a couple that I spotted, but he never replied at all so I stopped.

Neighbors had one of this generation in red up into the late 1980s. Very reliable but rusted like heck as many of the early mini pickups did. It was replaced by a brand new S10 extended cab 4×4 with V6 and manual trans.

I have a ’75 Hilux and I get notes wanting to buy it about every six months or so. The really crazy thing is the people posing for photos with it. I work in a touristy town and during the summer, I regularly find (usually Japanese) tourists taking pics of it.

These have rusted away most everywhere else, but there’s still a few running around OR and CA.

Geez, I don’t think I’ve seen a Datsun pickup of that generation on n.e. Ohio streets in about 30 years. Sad thing about that King Cabs is that it probably doesn’t have any more room than a ’98 or newer Ranger regular cab.

As soon as I saw the paint color, I knew it was a Malaise Era truck. That was the mustard yellow decade.

Now that small pickups are NLA as a new truck, finding and buying the existing stock is the only game in town. I can’t believe the prices on Craigslist for them; 80% of MSRP for something 5 years old and 80K+ miles….

What’s not to like. My 79 would get close to 30mpg and would tow over a ton. Carmine I think the first jump seats came in the 81 Datsun although mine didn’t have any. You had room for tools and a jug of freon in this style. The seats were optional IIRC and faced towards the center. I don’t know when the cab became big enough to have front facing jump seats.

The engine in mine was a 1950cc I think and I always thought it was the same block they put under the Z20/22/24 engines. Head was cast iron and, I think I remember OHC. It was sure more rugged than what followed as the Z engines had aluminum heads and cast iron blocks. They ate head gaskets regularly. Otherwise it was great and worked like a dog.

This was the style where the Datsun trucks started to figure out what was needed for use in the states (IMO). You could sell me on another one but I am happy with what I have after a lot of trouble getting to this place.

My Uncle Don had one of these, a black regular cab. I think it was a ’74. Drove it until he got a nearly new diesel Rabbit pickup. He kept the Datsun though and both of my cousins learned to drive in it in the mid ’80s.

But that “King Cab” made me laugh. It looks like a regular cab with an opera window! Still a cool little pickup though–too bad it got knocked on the nose.

Whoa, you put the dude’s number on the Internet!!?? I like the styling on this truck particularly the flair from the rear of the door matching up with the bed and the taillights that cannot be seen with the tailgate down are funny. Someone above mentioned the note might be left by a scrapper and that reminded me of several feather ruffling situations. Back in 2008 my rusty Caprice Estate had a few notes left by “Jawas” since scrap was high and not everyone understood the Cash for Clunkers rules. Even my team’s Federal Government plated 2012 Chevy Express would semi-regularly get “Jawa” business cards under its wiper while in South Central, but business cards for other services were much more common.

Sparks are quirky little things, I look forward to seeing them in 20 years when there will be creme puff versions all the way down to lawn ornament and junk yard fodder versions.